Identity As Ideology : Understanding Ethnicity and Nationalism

Modern human beings are socialized to take the existence of ethnic and national identities as given and largely unproblematic. Very few individuals would question the apparent normality of this division into nations and ethnic groups however, the intensity of this widespread feeling hides the degree of its historical novelty. This book explores the ideological and institutional underpinnings, as well as the political implications of this powerful modern belief system. This is achieved through subtle theoretical and thorough empirical analysis, both of which draw critically on the leading approaches in the field. Despite profound disagreement on whether identities are essential or existential, primordial or constructed, singular or multiple, there is little dispute over whether identities exist or not. In this provocative study, Sinisa Malesevic interrogates the unproblematic use of concepts of identity, and in particular national or ethnic identity. The concept of national or ethnic identity has acquired such a near universal acceptance that it has become a normative straitjacket. Despite profound disagreement on whether identities are essential or existential, primordial or constructed, singular or multiple, there is little dispute over the question of whether identities exist or not. In this highly engaging and provocative study, Sinisa Malesevic interrogates the unproblematic use of concepts of identity, and in particular national or ethnic identity. Establishing a conceptual critique of identity, tracing it back to its original mathematical meaning, Malesevic argues that the historicism, geographical exclusivity and ideological potency of the term have been obscured. Increasingly during the twentieth century, and even more so today, identity served to fill the ideological vacuum created by the demise of three other ideological concepts - 'race', after the collapse of Nazism, the 'national character' and 'social consciousness', with the end of the Cold War. Focusing on the break-up of Yugoslavia and the Rwandan holocaust, Malesevic situates his analysis within a concrete empirical context, providing a thorough dissection of discourses of identity "Sinisa Malesevic is one of the brightest and most provocative young scholars writing about identity today. Here he takes well-worn basic themes, such as ideology, that have been recently somewhat overlooked in this context and breathes fresh life into them. In the process, he revives contemporary sociological debates about ethnicity and nationalism. Written with passion and commitment, this is a 'must read"--Richard Jenkins, University of Sheffield, UK ' ... thought-provoking and eminently readable work ... I found this to be both a provactive and engaging piece of work which illustrates the problems of treating social groups as 'categories of social analysis' ... "--Michael Skey, Nations and Nationalism ' ... this is a thoroughly recommendable book that will interest social theorists as well as students and scholars of fields such as nationalism, ethnicity, genocide, and indeed, racism ... ' - Peter Martin, Ethnic and Racial Studies "The concept of national or ethnic identity has acquired such a near universal acceptance that it has become a normative straitjacket. Despite profound disagreement on whether identities are essential or existential, primordial or constructed, singular or multiple, there is little dispute over the question of whether identities exist or not. In this provocative study, the author interrogates the unproblematic use of concepts of identity, and in particular national or ethnic identity." "Establishing a conceptual critique of identity, tracing it back to its original mathematical meaning, the author argues that the historicism, geographical exclusivity and ideological potency of the term have been obscured. Focusing on the break-up of Yugoslavia and the Rwandan holocaust, the author situates his analysis within a concrete empirical context, providing a thorough dissection of discourses of identity."--Jacket Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction....Pages 1-10 Front Matter....Pages 11-11 Ethnic and National Identity: The Conceptual Critique....Pages 13-36 An Operational Phantom....Pages 37-57 Rehabilitating Ideology....Pages 58-80 Front Matter....Pages 81-81 The Dominant Ideology of Modernity....Pages 83-108 Divine Ethnies and Sacred Nations....Pages 109-135 Coercion, Nationalism and Popular Culture....Pages 136-153 Front Matter....Pages 155-155 Institutionalising Ethnicity and Nationess....Pages 157-184 Identitarian Intellectuals and Ethno-nationalism....Pages 185-203 Ethnic Cleansing, Nation-building and Modernity....Pages 204-226 Concluding Remarks....Pages 227-229 Back Matter....Pages 230-253